Narratives of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Narratives of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Also by Catriona Kennedy SOLDIERING IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND, 1750 1850: Men of Arms ( co-edited with Matthew McCormack )

Narratives of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars Military and Civilian Experience in Britain and Ireland Catriona Kennedy Lecturer, History Department, University of York

Catriona Kennedy 2013 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-0-230-27543-0 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries ISBN 978-1-349-32476-7 ISBN 978-1-137-31653-0 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9781137316530 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

Contents Acknowledgements vi Introduction 1 1 Narrating War 12 2 Becoming Soldiers and Sailors 33 3 Combat and Campaign 69 4 Travellers in Uniform 92 5 Prisoners of War 114 6 Citizen-Soldiers 135 7 Bringing the War Back Home 160 Conclusion: A Waterloo Panorama 187 Notes 201 Bibliography 244 Index 257 v

Acknowledgements This book is based on research conducted for the AHRC-funded project Nations, Borders, Identities: The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in European Experience in partnership with a Berlin-based project on the memory of these wars funded by the German Research Foundation. One of the great pleasures of this project has been the intellectual exchange afforded by and friendships developed through this British German collaboration and the camaraderie that took us from Arbeitfrühstucken in Berlin to hoedowns in North Carolina. My thanks to Karen Hagemann, the driving force behind the project, Alan Forrest, Etienne François, Arnd Bauerkämper, Richard Bessel, Wolfgang Koller, Ruth Leiserowitz, Lars Peters, Karine Rance, Kirstin Schäfer, Maria Schultz and Marie Cecile Thoral. My office mate Leighton James deserves a special mention for his good-humoured collegiality throughout. Particular thanks as well to Jane Rendall who with characteristic generosity read the full manuscript and provided judicious commentary and corrections: any errors which remain are of course my own. The book has benefited from the insights and suggestions of colleagues at various seminars, workshops and conferences, but I m especially grateful to the following current and former colleagues at the Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies at the University of York who, together, have provided an exceptionally stimulating and supportive environment in which to work: John Barrell, Mike Brown, Helen Cowie, Geoff Cubitt, Mary Fairclough, Natasha Glaisyer, Joanna de Groot, Harriet Guest, Nicholas Guyatt, Mark Hallett, Mark Jenner, Emma Major and Jim Watt. Thanks too to colleagues in the History department who read and commented on early chapter drafts: Alex Goodall, Hannah Greig and Mark Roodhouse. In York and Dublin, Alison O Byrne, Anna Barnard, Helen Smith, Anouk Bradish, Siân Muldowney and Arran Murphy provided much appreciated friendship, laughter and support. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Helen Smith, who generously and carefully proofread and commented on the complete manuscript. I would like to thank the following archives and libraries for permission to quote from material in their collections in the epigraphs to the Introduction, Chapter 1, and Chapter 5 the Royal Irish Academy, the National Library of Wales, the National Army Museum. I think my family has been mildly perplexed by how long it s taken to complete this book, so I m grateful to them for trying to conceal their surprise each time I told them it still wasn t finished. Neil Armstrong has been there since this book s inception and his love and support have been vital to its completion. The book is dedicated to my mother, Kathleen Kennedy, and to the memory of my father, Seán Kennedy. vi